


shadow

by maybughead



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Emotional Hurt, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Mild Smut, Sad Betty Cooper, Sad Jughead Jones, Sexy Times, Spoilers, because i can’t write smut, bettys also sad, except i don’t write the actual smut, jugheads sad, just a warning, just the scene from 5x03 put into words, like very mild, sorry - Freeform, there’s like one swear word tho, theyre both sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:54:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29200188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maybughead/pseuds/maybughead
Summary: “I think I might know what happened, Jug.” She forces herself to open her eyes but she doesn’t look at him, for fear the confusion on his face might make her back out....She takes a deep breath and shuts her eyes tight once more before opening them and saying with more than a touch of penitence, “I have to tell you something.”——or, 5x03 written down.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Kudos: 13





	shadow

**Author's Note:**

> ..hello. 
> 
> how are we doing today!?
> 
> i just watched the episode and i cried lol. BUT i also was happy because they’re finally leaving riverdale and they deserve the break so good for them!
> 
> anywaysss i was watching ~the scene~ for the eighteenth time and i thought: why not write it?
> 
> so i wrote it.
> 
> it’s very short and just something i came up with tbh.
> 
> enjoy! i guess
> 
> ps major spoilers so go watch the new episode first!

“I think I might know what happened, Jug.” She forces herself to open her eyes but she doesn’t look at him, for fear the confusion on his face might make her back out.

No. She needs to do this. For them.

She gets up from the bed and paces around her room for a second. She thinks she might have seen Archie through the window but she dissipates that thought quickly. She can hear him shuffle as he sits up against the bed, patiently waiting for her to speak. He’s always been patient with her.

She takes a deep breath and shuts her eyes tight once more before opening them and saying with more than a touch of penitence, “I have to tell you something.”

It’s like he’s read her mind. As she follows up his dismayed whisper of “Oh, no.” echoes in her ears and she silently damns him for still being able to read her so well.

“During Hedwig,” She pauses, working up the nerve while he watches on, “Archie and I…kissed.” She shakes her head like it’s unbelievable. It’s not. She always knew he had that nagging thought at the back of his mind, how at any moment she could choose Archie and leave him desolate and dejected.

“Once, only once I swear,” she tries to assure him quickly as her voice quivers dangerously, because she needs him to know that she chose _him,_ that Archie was nothing but a desperate grasp onto childhood bliss while their lives were edging closer and closer to maturity. “and I guess Archie told Veronica and that’s why they’ve been acting so weird.”

That just twists the knife and she can see it in his face, because even though they’d both cheated, Archie had had the integrity to be _honest_.

“But I didn’t tell you Jug and I’m so sorry,” She needs him to realise that she _knows_ , she knows she fucked up and she knows she made it worse and her voice grows in pitch as she climbs back onto the bed but he’s _still_ not looking at her and she needs him to know. “I should’ve told you right when it happened, I’m sorry.”

“I’m so sorry,” She repeats herself but this time she cradles his face in both hands and coaxes him into looking up at her _finally_ but as he raises his head all traces of emotion vanish from his face. He’s shut her out and she realises then that she’s lost him for good.

That doesn’t mean she won’t fight, but she lets the resignation creep into her voice and she knows he can hear it.

“I’m so sorry.” She repeats again as a whisper, accompanied with an abrupt, desperate sob and a tearful kiss as she tries, _tries_ to make him see that she wanted to forget.

She pulls away when he doesn’t react. She searches his face for anything that tells her he still wants her to see him but all she gets is his blank face, the blank face he uses on Reggie or Chuck or anyone he shows open contempt for.

He’s never used it on her.

So she tries again. This time the kiss lasts longer and a glassy ball of hope starts to bubble in her chest when she feels him move his hands up to frame her face.

He uses those hands to gently push her away and it all shatters into pieces.

His hands remain on her face and for what seems like an eternity he just _looks_ at her. He’s finally let her in and she can see the heartbreak all over his face. She vaguely wonders if seeing his emotion is worse than seeing nothing at all. He moves his thumb to catch a lone tear on her cheek and wipes it away softly and she can hear the unspoken words like fireworks in a silent night; _I know._

As soon as she hears them she knows he’s willing and they meet halfway for a harsh kiss. His sharp intake of breath is like music to her ears as she moves her hands to grasp the back of his neck for leverage and moves herself up to straddle his lap. Their kisses are short and sad and desperate and in her head she thinks there’s a slight chance he might forgive her but she knows it’s for nought so she pours her effort into him and stops thinking entirely. She does take the chance to slip her tongue into his mouth and they gently rub together while his hands push at the hem of her shirt, urging it off. She throws it somewhere and as soon as she does he’s reaching his hand behind her back to take off her bra. He unhooks it with skill and they’re still kissing as she pushes him back with her body, sinking him into the bed and basically smothering him. On a different day she would be anxious to hurt him but today she can’t find it in herself to care because she _needs_ him and he needs her and they’re going to be so far away from each other and this is the last night she’ll have him to herself before life gets in the way so she takes full control and can only hope she made him forget, even for just a little while.


End file.
